Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Monday announced that the Parandur Greenfield Airport project, a second airport for Chennai, will be shelved after facing strong opposition from farmers unwilling to part with their farmland.
Vijay noted that a second airport for Chennai was needed, given the city’s growing needs, industrial development, and increasing cargo transportation. The Meenambakkam airport currently has the capacity to handle 30 million passengers annually, he said.
However, he told the Tamil Nadu Assembly that he has considered the grievances of people protesting against the proposed airport at Parandur and the surrounding villages, and believes that the new airport should be located at a place where agricultural land and residential areas are minimally affected.
“I stand firmly with the people protesting against the airport to be established in Chennai’s Parandur and 12 surrounding villages,” he said, adding that the farmers were the backbone of the country.
At a public meeting in Vikravandi in 2024, Vijay said he had already opposed the Parandur airport project and stressed that he supported industrial development and the role of airports in it.
However, he said, “This project should not be located in Parandur. The government must reconsider this project.”
Vijay said that an alternative location should be identified where the minimum agricultural land is affected, and people’s livelihoods are not disrupted.
Sharing that detailed consultations were held with senior officials and experts on establishing a new airport, Vijay said, “To fulfil the promise I made to the people that day… the steps taken to establish a new airport in Parandur will be abandoned by this government.”
In April 2025, the Civil Aviation Ministry granted ‘in-Principle’ approval for setting up an International Greenfield Airport at Parandur, Kancheepuram District.
DMK staged a walkout from the Tamil Nadu Assembly, protesting against the denial of an opportunity to speak in the House about the Parandur airport project.
DMK says it’ll cause economic damage
However, former Tamil Nadu minister and DMK MLA Thangam Thennarasu said dropping the proposed Parandur Greenfield Airport project for political reasons would cause economic damage to the state and could lead to industries moving towards neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Thennarasu said all possibilities, including the setting up of two runways, were studied before Parandur was selected for the airport project.
“Possibilities for setting up two runways were all studied, and only then was Parandur selected,” he said.
Thennarasu said former Chief Minister MK Stalin had stated that work on the Parandur Airport project would be dropped, but that the Tamil Nadu Government had not conveyed any information to the Central Government in this regard.
He said compensation had already been provided to people whose land was acquired for the project.
“As per the Land Acquisition Act, the land acquired should be used only for the purpose for which it was acquired,” Thennarasu said.
He said Parandur would be the best location for the proposed airport and warned that scrapping the project could have economic consequences.
“It would be best to have the airport at Parandur. Dropping the Parandur Airport project for political reasons will cause economic damage,” he said.
Thennarasu further said several industries could shift towards Andhra Pradesh if the project were dropped.
“Many industries will move towards Andhra Pradesh. We have already lost the Hosur Airport,” he said.